Mice in walls

Just as the subject states: I have some mice in my walls.

- My house is new (5 months old)

- I hear them chewing at the framing inside the wall between the kitchen and the dining room

- A cold air return runs in this wall

I've used Riddex and the like the past with good results as far as killing the mice. But they usually crawl somewhere, die, rot...and well -- stink. Fine for a garage or attic area but these guys are inside the wall. What would be recommended? Traps? Is there poison that will kill them and dry them out or something? I have pets and small children so poison and traps are obviously damgerous no matter what the outcome.

Any thoughts? And any thoughts as to bait on the traps? I hate to use the glue traps because the mouse gets stuck and usually ends up chewing a leg off or something gross. I don't need my six year old girl seeing that.

I'm in Eastern Ontario...

Thanks a lot.

Corey

Reply to
coreyleiper
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I just tore out some drywall for a kitchen remodel and discovered pieces of dog food lodged 4 feet up in the insulation - mouse storage. I've also found it in the basement piled on a shim between a door frame and stud. I get them moving in every once and awhile. Just use the cheap snap traps - don't want poison around the pets. A bit of bacon or peanut butter seems to be a good bait. I put them in the closet near where I feed the dogs - I know the mice travel there and the dogs don't end up with a trap on their nose.

Reply to
tev9999

In article , snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.ca says... :) Just as the subject states: I have some mice in my walls. :) :) :) I've used Riddex and the like the past with good results as far as :) killing the mice. But they usually crawl somewhere, die, rot...and :) well -- stink. Fine for a garage or attic area but these guys are :) inside the wall. What would be recommended? Traps? Is there poison :) that will kill them and dry them out or something? I have pets and :) small children so poison and traps are obviously damgerous no matter :) what the outcome. If the activity is inside the walls the trick would be getting them to get to the bait or a trap. If they get into bait in the attic then a trap in the attic would work too. Concentrate on making sure there is no debris close to the house...tall grass..wood piles..etc. It will be impossible to close all the openings on a home a mouse could get in but you need to try to get as many as you can, ground level and above your head. There is no poison to dry them out, but you can get secure bait stations and place them out on the property to help keep numbers from building up close to the house, thus allowing them to move inside.

:) Any thoughts? And any thoughts as to bait on the traps? I hate to use :) the glue traps because the mouse gets stuck and usually ends up chewing :) a leg off or something gross. I don't need my six year old girl seeing :) that. The safest trap with children involved will be glue traps. I have never heard of a mouse chewing a foot off though I have seen and hear often of rats doing this, mainly because of them being a larger animal if not stuck well can still struggle about where a mouse is usually caught tight. Peanut butter works well for bait as well as a couple of drops of vanilla extract or a smear of chocolate on the trigger... wrapping yarn or foil around the trigger is said to be another attractant. You can also purchase the large rat sized bait stations that will easily hide mouse sized snap or glue traps that will keep children and pets out.

Reply to
Lar

If the politically correct liberal apologists that run your province and your country haven't outlawed them as dangerous predators yet, pick up a cat or two. They'll make short work of the mice-- sparing your sweet little angel an important lesson in how life works ;-)

Patrick

>
Reply to
Patrick Cleburne

: : snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.ca wrote: :> Just as the subject states: I have some mice in my walls. :>

:> - My house is new (5 months old) :> - I hear them chewing at the framing inside the wall between the :> kitchen and the dining room :> - A cold air return runs in this wall :>

:> I've used Riddex and the like the past with good results as far as :> killing the mice. But they usually crawl somewhere, die, rot...and :> well -- stink. Fine for a garage or attic area but these guys are :> inside the wall. What would be recommended? Traps? Is there poison :> that will kill them and dry them out or something? I have pets and :> small children so poison and traps are obviously damgerous no matter :> what the outcome. :>

:> Any thoughts? And any thoughts as to bait on the traps? I hate to use :> the glue traps because the mouse gets stuck and usually ends up chewing :> a leg off or something gross. I don't need my six year old girl seeing :> that. :>

:> I'm in Eastern Ontario... :>

:> Thanks a lot. :>

:> Corey : :I just tore out some drywall for a kitchen remodel and discovered :pieces of dog food lodged 4 feet up in the insulation - mouse storage. :I've also found it in the basement piled on a shim between a door frame :and stud. I get them moving in every once and awhile. Just use the :cheap snap traps - don't want poison around the pets. A bit of bacon :or peanut butter seems to be a good bait. I put them in the closet :near where I feed the dogs - I know the mice travel there and the dogs :don't end up with a trap on their nose.

Yes, assuming there's nothing in the walls that sustains them they will look for food. Whenever I notice mouse problems I put down a mouse trap or to with a bit of peanut butter for bait. I usually catch all the mice (usually one or two) in a day or two and don't get bothered by them for a long time, generally years.

I had animals living under the house and got a recommendation to chase them out by putting a container with some ammonia down there. They hate the smell of ammonia and abandoned the premises. You have small children, but I don't think that a little ammonia poses a threat if you get some of the evaporating gas where the mice will smell it (you should check that out, but that's my guess. Ammonia is toxic, but not THAT toxic. Just don't combine it with bleach or you get chlorine gas, which is seriously toxic!). That is something you might try if you aren't successful in trapping them like I have. Maybe you can put a small open container with some ammonia in it where it will gross them out.

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

clipped

When I lived in a colder climate, I would always have a mouse move in when the fall weather got cold. I tried decon once, and had the mouse die beneath the kitchen sink - I was able to get it out by fishing the vacuum into the space from a nearby drawer opening. Seal up all food packages that can be chewed into and put them on upper shelves if you don't put them into hard containers. Clean up the crumbs. Put the trap in their pathway, if they have left signs. My favorite was behind the fridge because it was nice and warm and kids/pets could not get to it. I used cheese, which never failed. They won't likely head for the bait if the usual packages of cereal, flour, cookies, pet food, are still easily available.

Reply to
Norminn

clipped

We had the fire department out late one night when the clothes dryer started putting out really nasty black smoke. They took a look and found dog food in the gas burner chamber :o) Dog chow might be better bait than cheese :o) Ants like it, too :o)

Reply to
Norminn

As far as snap traps go....THese are probably the safest should little kids stick their fingers in them

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I also catch more mice with these than any other type of snap trap. Push them up against the wall so that mice are forced to walk thru them as they scurry along the wall.

You can aslo buy them direct from the manufacturer on the internet.

Reply to
Jmagerl

Think cat.

Reply to
HeyBub

Hi, They don't like peppermint oil smell. You can have a little bottle with cap removed and leave it in the wall or sprinkle a few drops once in a while. Tony

Reply to
Tony Hwang

I've used glue traps and usually they struggle for 10 minutes, then stop struggling until I disturb them to remove them. One of the big makers of glue traps said that vegetable oil poured on the surface will let them loose again. (Remember to do this outside.) It's probably true of all brands, but this was a famous brand for the last

50 years. They make mousetraps and mouse poison boxes too.. Check their webpages or ask me.

Oh yeah, when I just tried to ask them a question the customer service person didn't understand, she sent me some free traps, including a reusuable one. The mice goes in to eat the bait and somehow can't get out. I haven't caught a mouse with it yet, but I think I relied on what they called permanent bait. I also saw a reusable of a different style in a dollar store. it was shaped like __/ so that when the mouse went in to get the bait you chose, it tipped over on its vertex (?), angle, and locked.

No way your kids or animals could get hurt by reusable traps.

I've heard that one should wash his hands or wear gloves before touching this stuff, because the mice can smell your smell, and then they won't bite, but the customer service person said she hadn't heard that.

I think there are also glue traps with roofs, like roach traps, so that what goes on inside is not so noticeable. And it's not so likely your pet or child will step in one.

Cats are very effective, but I wouldn't be certain that your kid won't learn a lesson. I believe they often torment a mouse after they have caught it. I saw this in the cartoons first, but then I saw it real life. Even if she just sees the cat eat it.... well, she has to grow up sometime. If you lived on a farm, she know all this already. Where does she think lambchops, chicken, and steaks come from. OK, she might not ask about that for a few years yet, and she might not see anything that you do to the mice either.

After mice die, they sometimes dry up without any smell. I found one in the basement, and I found one just outside the kitchen door, under the lawnmower.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

Reply to
mm

It looks like a good trap, but what's funny is they list as one of the features " Attractive, clean styling. Nobody but you will know it's a mousetrap."

Yet in the picture, it says right on it: "The better mousetrap / by Intruder, Inc.". along with a little sketch of a mouse.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

Reply to
mm

UGH.. my skin crawls just thinking about it because I've had the same problem and it was awful!! I havre found the glue traps do not work -- the mice get off of them and when do they do get stuck they make a lot of noice, very unpleasant. They have these black box type traps that mice crawl into and do not come out of and you can get someone to put them in the walls for you. Plus, when the mouse is in there you don't have to see it when you toss out the trap.

Reply to
citygirl

LOL I bet the Fire Dept got a laugh out of that one. That's pretty bizarre. I dont doubt it though. Living in the country I am constantly battling mice and occasionally a rat. I can deal with the mice, but rats are very persistant and tend to freak me out a bit.

You'll like this one. I had a rat chew a hole in the floor next to a pipe when I was lining in an old trailer house. The pipe was under the tub. I set traps and all of that stuff. One day I see the rat run into the bathroom and go down that hole. Immediately I sprayed some "Great Stuff" foam in the hole. A couple days later I hear chewing. I follow the sound over to that pipe. Sure enough, that damn rat is chewing back into the house, right thru that foam. I could tell it was getting close to the floor surface too because the foam was moving. I grab a screwdriver and poke a small hole in the foam. Stuck the tube from the can of "great stuff" into the hole and wait till I hear chewing again. As soon as I heard the chewing, I put my finger on the nozzle of that can and pump that hole (and the rat) full of foam. If you have ever gotten "Great Stuff" (or any similar) foam on your fingers, you know how hard it is to get off. Imagine that entire rat coated with that stuff....

I never heard from that rat again !!!!

When I demolished that old trailer, I never found the remains of that rat, so it must have just gone a few feet and died. It was NOT embedded in that foam, I looked....

Mark

Reply to
maradcliff

a little wad of steel wool really discourages chewing through anything.

Reply to
A Veteran for Peace

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. I also catch more mice with these than any other type of snap trap. Push

These traps are worthless. My wife bought them once. True, they are safe around children. They are also, as a result, very safe for the mice. Think about it- How effective do you think a trap will be that closes with such little force, it won't injure a toddler's finger? The mouse might thank you for getting that kink out of his neck, but that would be the only effect.

Buy a real trap. Keep it away from the kids. Or, let the kids learn a life lesson, to stay away from mouse traps. It only takes once.

ME

Reply to
alienz

Yep. I learned that trick and now embed steel wool in the foam when I plug holes. I also put tin over the top. However I rarely have rodent problems in the house anymore. The idea is to keep them out from under the house in the first place, and concrete solves that. Now if I could only keep those things out of the barn. I have 11 cats and still got mice and rats in the barn. Cats generally do not kill rats anyhow, yet they kill chipmunks and gophers which are the same size.... go figure??? Maybe I need larger cats, like lynx or panther :)

Reply to
maradcliff

In article , snipped-for-privacy@humboldt1.com says... :) a little wad of steel wool really discourages chewing through anything. :) :) On the exterior though there will be a chance of an unsightly rust stain if used.

Reply to
Lar

I find that mixing pea gravel with great stuff and than troweling it in works good too.

Reply to
Jmagerl

IT doesnt take much force to hold and kill a mouse. They are not Hulk monsters. Gentle squeezing is all it takes. THe trouble with a regular snap trap is that 9 out of 10 times the mouse can eat the bait without tripping trap. I would hot melt glue sunflower seeds to a regular snap trap a find the seeds gone the next day but no mouse. THe intruder trap gets then every time. IF you do go for a regular snap trap, get the ones with the plastic paddles. THey are a tad bit more sensitive than the metal paddle traps but still not as sensitive as the intruder traps.

Reply to
Jmagerl

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